1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to gun mounting brackets for all-terrain vehicles (ATV) and more particularly to a mounting bracket universally adapted to ATV's for retaining various lockable type rigid gun boots.
2. General Background
Equipment racks and various types of gun mounts which are adaptable to ATV's are well known within the art. Guns, such as rifles and shotguns, have been carried in scabbards for attachment to horse saddles for a great many years. However, more recently such scabbards have become more sophisticated by providing a rigid, padded case which totally encloses the gun and further locking the case, thereby protecting the gun environmentally and thwarting theft. Gun boots have been adapted for use in numerous applications such as for fixed attachment to tree stands as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,188. Rigid gun boots are now becoming more elaborate and are being used more widely, thus requiring additional methods for mounting them for transport to hunting and camp sites. One such method is disclosed for adaptation and transport by RTV's in U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,990. This arrangement provides a universal bracket mountable to the cargo rack of the RTV and provides an attachment for a specific type of rigid gun boot or scabbard configured to be paired with the mounting bracket. There is also provided a method for pivoting the scabbard from a horizontal position to an angular position. This apparatus requires the hunter to purchase both the scabbard and the bracket as a mated unit and is even further limited to the type of gun for which the scabbard is designed. Therefore, a need exists for a bracket adaptable to ATV's which will allow for universal mounting of a variety of gun scabbards or boots, further removably lock the boot securely to the mounting bracket, and provide additional positioning.